Tevun-Krus #80 - WattPunk 2.0

Part Eight: In the STARz - by @Emmalee_Sky

In the STARz

by @Emmalee_Sky

"The further down you go, the more you can see, and the more you can see, the harder it is to break free," Sylvia muttered, a cigarette on the tip of her lip. She spotted the pack. Ecrivain's Specials. The damn things would kill her, but she didn't care. Better than what'd really do her in.

"That's how they drew us all in." She looked at the tape recorder on the table. This was damn stupid, but the best way to get it out. Just batteries. No internet connection. "No Big Brother in the form of Wattpad." She tapped the recorder. "Since its start in 2006, twenty-four years ago, the simple writing website has taken the world by storm. By now, it's flooded across all the platforms, taking this company to a new level. Social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram—shit, they've ceased to exist. Wattpad's ground them into nothing. Why would you need all those when you had Wattpad? TV shows, movies, books, news, community? What was the damn point? Before the world knows it, the big orange W will take over the digital world. A slow climb to totally monopolizing the industry. Watch out, Google. You'll be next."

She lightly smacked her forehead. It was hard to stay focused. She shook her head again. Damn. But she had to hurry. Someone had to tell the world what was happening. Them Wattpad bastards thought they could get away with—

"You're getting ahead of yourself." She rolled her neck, shivered then scratched her inner left elbow.

Reaching for the glass of some no-name whiskey, she took a swig. It burned the whole way down. Slamming the glass on the table, a stack of cards tumbled over. Just like her mind. Tumbling and tumbling and tu— "Stop!" She shook her head.

"Sylvi, you've got to run! You're in danger. Heard it on the hike over. The wind said—"

Sylvia shook her head harder, rattling her brain. "You're not real. Not real. Not real. Not real." She dug her fingers into her temples. Concentrate. She couldn't let it get the best of her. She needed...

Clearing her throat, she scratched at her inner elbow again. "The faster I do this, the better. It's getting harder..." She took another drag off her cigarette, finishing it up. She got another. Yes, fill up on the nicotine. Hopefully before she lost her ever-loving mind. She licked her lips.

"Ever-loving?" She laughed. She sounded like a nut. What did it matter? She was loaded out of her mind, riding the tails of another trip, however short it might've been. She couldn't be expected to make any sense. And mixing in what had happened... Oh God. She was effing screwed.

But again, getting ahead of herself. She slapped her cheeks, the movement forcing a drop of ash to the table. She brushed it aside hastily. She curled up in the chair, bringing her knees to her chest. She stared at the cigarette for a moment.

"It all began with the next step as a Wattpadder or WattPadian, who the hell knew?"

***

Sylvia sat on her sofa, reading Joss Whedon's Fray #7 when her computer beeped. She tossed it aside. A new email from Wattpad? God, she hoped so. She'd just posted a short story, a tie between Sci-Fi and Fantasy, something new for her, and was dying to know what everyone thought.

Except it wasn't just any email from Wattpad. It was from the MOTHERSHIP. Holy crap. She plopped down before her laptop, hands shaking as she moved the mouse. An invite to join the Stars Program. Oh God. It was happening. The Stars Program was the next step for any writer. It came out in late 2015, and as the years passed, they turned into the cream of the crop. Having been on their Featured list for years, from one story to another, Sylvia had gained a steady following over the years. To be invited... She couldn't believe it.